Archive for the ‘Field Notes’ Category

First sales executive retreat

First sales executive retreat

Yesterday, we took everyone based in our Pollachi office out to lunch at nice place outside of Pollachi. This was our first retreat for our sales executives. It was mostly a chance to get everyone together, to treat our employees to a nice meal, and to say

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Learning from those who know the problem best

Learning from those who know the problem best

You can’t completely understand the problem until you learn about it from the people who know it best. This has been a personal philosophy that has grown stronger over the past couple of years. It’s been reinforced even more this winter. I’m Jen, and I’ve been working

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Cheap vs quality: Which is better?

Cheap vs quality: Which is better?

Both of the images below are taken from a weekly market in a village 15 km from Pollachi. People living in villages around this market come here every week to buy essential household items. This market primarily sells fresh farm vegetables, but a large number of vendors

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From a thought exercise to action: Reflections on teaching (and learning/doing) social entrepreneurship

From a thought exercise to action: Reflections on teaching (and learning/doing) social entrepreneurship

This isn’t an update from the field, but it’s still part of the entire experience of building Essmart out here in India. Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in an “International Faculty Seminar on Social Entrepreneurship” at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai.

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Experimental marketing: live demonstrations in shops

Experimental marketing: live demonstrations in shops

Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity to accompany Selvan to shop #2 of Essmart’s 17, which is located maybe 20 minutes outside of Pollachi. Around 5:30 pm, Selvan and I set up a little solar lantern demonstration center in front of this store. We propped the lanterns

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A first note from Selvan, Essmart’s new Director of Field Operations

A first note from Selvan, Essmart’s new Director of Field Operations

Hi! This is Selvan, writing my first blog for Essmart about my day-to-day field experiences running the ground operations. It’s been almost 15 days since we got to Pollachi, and we have made significant progress from our hotel room in Sakthi to a moderately furnished home cum

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Tweets

Check out the new Essmart t-shirt design! Courtesy of the amazing @amatzner. Get yours at essmart-global.com/crowdfundi…! pic.twitter.com/hWHdj2gUgD

About 5 hours ago